Mail-box indicator.



No. 738,849. PATENTBD SEPT. 15, 1903.

H. SOHMID.

MAIL BOX INDICATOR.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES I lmvmmrq 4& m/rav #ENRY m WM E15 HTTUHNEY 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

2w TTUHNEY fi R Y 6211/1/74 f0 F5 A/orzq' PATENTED SEPT. '15, 1903.

I H. SGHMID. MAIL BOX INDICATOR. APPLICATION FILED pro. 8. 1902.

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, UNITED 1 STATES Patented September 15, 1903.

PATENT Orricn.

MAIL-BOX INDICATOR.

$PEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,849, dated September 15, 1903. Application filed December 8, 1902. fierial No. 134,295. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, HENRY SoHMID, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-B OX Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mail-box indicators, and more particularly to that class in which the indicating device is automatically operated in the act of closing the door, so that when a collection has been made the time of the next succeeding collection appears through an opening in the mail-' boX and there remains until the box has again been opened and closed by the postman.

The object of my invention is to simplify the devices of this class, thereby avoiding a multiplicity of parts and insuring their positive and reliable action at all times.

To this end my invention consists of a certain arrangement and combination of parts which will be fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation ofa standard mail-box embodying my improved device with portions broken away to show interior construction. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of Fig. 1, taken in the line 03 00. Fig. 3 is a detached detail of the disk and its operative parts. Fig. 4 is a detached detail of the operating-lever. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary portion of the disk, showing the method of at tachment of the time-numerals; and Fig. 6 is a section of Fig. 5, taken in the line y y.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the mail-box of the standard pattern with the usual hinged lid 2 and dropdoor 3, having side wings 1. Upon the front wall of the mail -box is the display-opening 5, protected by glass, and inside this front wall is the casing 6 for inclosing the operative parts.

7 is the indicating-disk, around which are arranged the time-numerals which appear at the display-opening 5. Rigid with this indi eating-disk '7 is the toothed locking-wheel S,

as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

both of which revolve upon the frame 9, which has two of its arms, 10 10, pivoted upon brackets 11 11, secured to the box. The other arm, 12, of this frame rests loosely in a swinging socket 13. The casing 6 is secured to the swinging frame, and it and the frame may be swung out to adjust or change the timenumerals when necessary. A locking-lever is pivoted to the frame 9 at the point 1%, its lower arm 14 extending down below the disk 7, its upper arm 15 being provided with an inwardly-extending lug it, which rests normally between two of the teeth of the locking-wheel 8, being held in such position by the spring 17, secured to the frame 9. The timenumerals may be placed directly upon the disk 7 or they may be removably secured, as

shown in Figs. 5 and 6, in which 18 is a metal tag on which the time-numeral is inscribed. A hook 19 on the inner end of the tag removably engages with the disk 7, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and a tongue 20 on the outer end of the tag is bent around the ridge 21 on the disk 7.

Upon one of the wings 4 of the drop-door 3 is pivoted atripping-lever having the weighted lower end 25 and the upper engaging end 26, which is provided upon one side with the pin 27 and upon the other side with the engaging arm 28, extending slightly beyond the pin 27, as clearly shown in Fig. l.

The operation of my improved indicating device is as follows: Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that 6.20 p. m. is the collecting time indicated at the display-opening 5. The postman arrives and unlocks the drop-door 3. In swinging it down the engaging arm 28 drops around the lower end of the lever 14 to its engaging position in front of such lever, As the door is closed after the removal of the mail the pin 27 (see Fig. 3) pushes the lever 1e: inwardly upon its pivot, which causes the lug 16 at the opposite end of the lever to be released from its locking engagement with the wheel 8. The pin 27 is now down to the extreme end of the lever 14, and just before its escape therefrom the engaging arm 28 on the opposite side strikes one of the spaced peripheral shoulders 29 on the disk 7, moving such disk until the lug 16 has slid across the outer face of the next tooth on the wheel 8, when the spring 17 will pull such lug inwardly in looknext. This operation causes the disk '7 to move forward a distance sufficient to cause the next collection time to appear at the opening 5.

It is apparent that with my improved construction the number of collections to be indicated is not limited, and if any one of the times for collection is either missed or is intentionally to be skipped the proper time can be adjusted at the display opening by a simple manipulation of the drop-door by the postman.

I claim 1. The combination with a mail-box having a display-opening and a drop-door provided withatripping-1ever,ofarevoluble indicatingdisk provided With spaced peripheral shoulders, a toothed locking-wheel rigid With the indicati11g-disk,and aspring-pressed lockinglever adapted for operative engagement With the tripping-lever on the drop-door, in the oping engagement between that tooth and the v eration of closing the same, as and for the purpose stated.

2. The combination With a mail-box having a display-opening and a drop-door provided with a tripping-lever, of a swinging frame pivoted to the mail-box, a revoluble indicating-disk journaled in the swinging frame and provided with spaced peripheral shoulders, a toothed locking-Wheel rigid With the indicating-disk, and a spring-pressed locking-lever pivoted to the swinging frame and adapted for operative engagement with the trippinglever on the drop door, in the operation of closing the same,as andfor the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of tWo subscribingwitnesses.

HENRY SCHMID. 

